EPPING FOREST. 123 



eager to challenge its conclusions as to their rights, and 

 to vindicate their claims to inclose. The Commoners, 

 a scattered and feeble folk, were little considered. The 

 nature of their rights being ignored, or not understood, 

 it was contended that they could only turn out their 

 cattle upon the wastes of the Manors in which their 

 lands were situate, and that the absence of boundary 

 fences alone was the foundation of the right or practice 

 of allowing their beasts to stray over the wastes of the 

 other Forest Manors. Many of these inclosures were 

 made by virtue of alleged customs of the Manors 

 to inclose with the consent of the homage-juries 

 of the copyhold tenants, summoned to the Manor 

 Courts. In some cases these Courts were held very 

 irregularly, and if anyone attended for the purpose 

 of objecting to grants of the waste, the Court at 

 which they were to be made was not opened till eight 

 or nine o'clock at night, when the wearied objectors 

 had departed. In one Manor the homage summoned 

 consisted of persons who were to receive grants of 

 waste ; when it came to the turn of one of them to 

 receive a piece of land, he retired from the homage, and 

 another took his place ; and when the grant had been 

 made to him, he returned to his post and assisted in 

 granting land to others. Thus the rights of the Com- 

 moners were overridden by collusive acts, which in 

 theory were done according to the custom of the 

 Manor. In other Manors the Commoners were left to 

 take any remedy which they could find. In the 

 Manor of Wanstead, between 1851 and 1869, there were 



